Long Hike: Beast Week Day 6

Beast Week: This week we will be focusing on endurance, a pillar of Spartan Training. Endurance is required to finish a Spartan Beast. No matter your level, you can use these workouts as a template to train your body in persistence.

Spartan races don’t happen on the streets. Outside of our Stadium Series, they occur on dirt. Time to test yourself on the trails.

You won’t gain experience running on trails any other way. Besides, running on trails tests your full body endurance more than if you simply run on the road. Look for gnarly terrain that will have you scrambling and climbing over things. This is how to get a huge functional-fitness bang for your buck in terms of time spent exercising.

Warmup

Jog slow for 10 minutes

Burpees

Main Set

Trail run for 1-4 hours

Cool Down

Jog slow, Stretch

Variations:

Beginner Version: Try and reach the 1 hour mark. It’s ok to walk. Just run when you can. But do not stop until your hour is up.

Advanced Version: When out on the trails, grab a log or a rock for a few of your big climbs. Try and go for at least 3 hours there. Pack some water and food.

Endurance Tip:

When training for endurance, don’t get your heart fixed on a distance for each workout. Focus on time spent moving forward.

This is because there are so many variables in a mile. Some days you are going to be slow. Some days you will be lightening fast. Some routes will be easy, some hard.

This will keep you from cheating yourself by picking easy terrain just to ‘get your miles in’. Don’t count miles, count minutes. Quality minutes.

Instead of calculating a route simply run away from your house for about half the amount of time you have for a run. Then run back.